1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates in general to elevator systems, and more specifically to elevator systems having a governor for actuating a car safety at a predetermined speed in the down travel direction.
2. Description of the Prior Art
An elevator car suspended by wire ropes must be provided with a safety attached to the car sling or frame, within or below the lower members of the car frame called the safety plank. The safety, when actuated, operates upon the guide rails between which the car frame is located. The car safety is actuated by a separate speed governor which is set to trip at a predetermined car speed in the down travel direction, which predetermined speed is at least 115% of rated speed. While prior art governors have been mounted on the elevator car, it is more conventional for the governor to be mounted in the machine room.
It would be desirable to provide a new and improved car mounted governor, eliminating the need for governor ropes which run the length of the hoistway, which are required for governors mounted in the machine room. It would further be desirable to be able to reset the governor by upward car motion, at the same time the safety is reset. Finally, it would be desirable to provide a new and improved car mounted governor which can actuate a car safety of the type normally operated by a machine room mounted governor, without significant modification of the car safety.